LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) released its earnings numbers for the three months through September this afternoon after the market closed in New York. The enterprise social network showed earnings of 39 cent per share for the third quarter. Revenue for the period came in at $393 million. On today’s market stock in Linked in trended up to finish the day’s trading at $247.16 per share.
Analysts studying LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) were looking for earnings per share of 31 cents from today’s earnings report. Consensus revenue expectations for the three months came in at $385 million. In the same three months of 2012 LinkedIn Corp managed to earn 22 cents per share on revenue totaling $252 million.
LinkedIn earnings
LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) has done a great job of expanding its earnings in recent quarters and years. The company is expected to earn $1.55 per share for the full year 2013. In 2012, the last full year the company recorded, LinkedIn managed to earn 89 cents per share. 2015 earnings are expected to come in at $2.24 per share.
So far this year LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) has managed to beat analyst expectations on both first and second quarter earnings. The company’s biggest win came in its first quarter report. Better than expected subscriptions, among other positive trends, led the company to record earnings of 45 cents compared to consensus expectations of 31 cents.
Much of the growth in the company’s stock so far this year came in the weeks after the release of that earnings report. LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) is a growth stock, but there are plenty of reasons for investors to be wary before putting their money behind the social network.
LinkedIn stock
Shares in LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) have increased in value by more than 110% so far in 2013. The company has had an incredible year so far, and it’s not over yet. Investors have pumped the stock to more than 700 times its 2012 earnings, meaning that if earnings growth slows down there could be huge volatility in the company’s stock.
LinkedIn Corp (NYSE:LNKD) executives will host an earnings call to discuss these results this afternoon after the market closes on Wall Street. The company’s investors are likely to be interested in the executives’ guidance for the final three months of 2013, and their take on the current valuation of the stock.
